LUSAIL, Qatar — Argentina's World Cup life flashed before its collective eyes in the 123rd minute of the eternal game. This was before King Leo's coronation and after most of the madness. In stoppage time of extra time of the World Cup final for all time, France's Randal Kolo Muani had escaped from a drained defense and, 8,000 miles away, from Buenos Aires to Córdoba to Rosario, Argentine tears readied themselves beneath hope and faith.
, France's Randal Kolo Muani had escaped from a drained defense and, 8,000 miles away, from Buenos Aires to Córdoba to Rosario, Argentine tears readied themselves beneath hope and faith.
He became an Argentine legend with a sprawling save, and then with his penalty-shootout heroics. With shenanigans and classic, he slithered into the minds of nervous French players, then repelled one penalty and saw another flash wide of the post. He punched the air in celebration. He shimmied, mischievously, to celebrate mind-games won and a World Cup trophy within reach.
He was raised, instead, in a house without doors and toilets. Dinners sometimes consisted of white rice. His dad, Alberto, worked long hours as a truck driver delivering fish throughout the region. His mom, Susana, cleaned apartments, trying to provide for the young family. She’d drop off Emi and his brother, Alejandro, at the bus stop around 6:30 or 7 a.m. Or, at times, Emi would walk to school alone.
“I left when I was very young, before I got the chance to play for Independiente, because I needed to support my family financially,” he’d later explain."I don't want to come back to my country with nothing. I want to make a career here." “That's why I can and do relate to fans,” he’d later say here in Qatar, “because I'm just another Argentine.”His first break arrived, finally, in 2020, at age 27, when Arsenal lost a goalkeeper to injury and called on him as games resumed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He started and won the FA Cup final that year, a trophy which brought him to a different type of tears.
In fact, ahead of last year’s Copa America, 34-year-old River Plate keeper Franco Armani remained Argentina’s No. 1. Then Armani caught COVID. Martinez stepped in for his national team debut in a June 2021 World Cup qualifier. And he never looked back.
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